How to Capture User Scenarios to Unlock Real Product Needs

Why Go to User Scenarios?

Linking user needs to product design hinges on aligning "user value" with "product value". Users often cannot state their true needs directly, especially in innovative or systemic designs, so deeper insight is required.

User scenarios are the most accessible and expressive carriers of user demands. They reveal behaviors, consumption traits, and decision preferences.

Product design essentially redesigns user scenarios. By addressing pain points and expectations within existing scenarios, designers can reconstruct them.

What Is a User Scenario?

A useful scenario is vivid, detailed, and immersive, covering space, time, people, and actions. Simple interview answers like "I spend weekends with my kids" are insufficient; a rich scenario might describe the kitchen layout, breakfast rituals, music, and photo documentation.

Scenarios can be categorized into:

General life scenarios: typical day, social, work, consumption, etc.

Product/service scenarios: purchase decision moments and usage contexts, varying by project type.

How to Obtain User Scenarios?

Combine multiple methods such as deep interviews, companion visits, and observation.

1. Deep Interviews

One‑on‑one conversations uncover purchase behavior, product concerns, and usage contexts.

Provides ample time for depth but may include recall bias; supplement with other methods.

2. Companion Visits

Join users during purchase or usage to observe real‑time actions, emotions, and touchpoints.

Reduces recall bias and captures authentic reactions.

3. Observation

Watch users in their environment (e.g., kitchen layout, appliances) to identify habits and motivations.

Requires researcher initiative to capture key insights.

When applying these methods, pay attention to interview outline design and tool usage.

Interview outlines follow a "whole‑part‑whole" structure: overall recall, detailed segment discussion, and final summary.

Segment ordering can be based on:

Process sequence: purchase journey, house‑viewing steps, etc.

Spatial sequence: rooms in a house, zones in a property.

Temporal sequence: daily timeline from waking to sleeping.

For hard‑to‑describe value scenarios, use card tests, scenario hypotheses, or social‑media (friend‑circle) exploration.

Card Test

Prepare keyword or image cards, ask users to choose and explain their choices.

Scenario Hypothesis

Pose imaginative questions (e.g., ideal vacation location) to spark creative responses.

Friend‑Circle Exploration

Analyze users' shared content to infer values, interests, and needs.

How to Derive User Needs from Scenarios?

First, segment users based on usage differences (e.g., retirees, family vacationers, investors) and group their scenarios.

Then build a typical scenario library, categorizing scenes such as purchase, residence, property service, and community interaction.

Analyze each scenario by marking key elements (people, time, place, actions, emotions, preferences), interpreting underlying reasons, and abstracting concrete details into higher‑level needs.

Finally, refine these needs into core demands that serve as design principles for products and services.

Conclusion

As Milan Kundera said, "Meaninglessness is the norm, but we must strive to uncover it and love it." User scenario research reveals hidden details and demands; by dissecting and re‑designing these scenarios, we can create products that truly meet user expectations.